Minety 1st XV v Corsham

Saturday 19 September 2015

Minety 46pts – Corsham 20pts

Minety 1st XV ran out 46 – 20 winners in their opening home fixture of the Dorset and Wilts Division 1 North against local rivals Corsham on Saturday.

After an opening week defeat at Coombe Down, Andy Ward’s team needed to match the second half intensity shown at Bath but once again fell behind in the early exchanges which saw Corsham race to a 10 – 0 lead in the first 10 minutes.  Playing downhill in the first half, the Corsham pack exerted great pressure on the home scrum and lineouts and dominated much of the open play.

A Garin Garland penalty reduced the arrears mid way through the half and this seemed to spur the home side into action. A slick backs move involving Jack Ward and Max Sparrow saw the latter sprint through for Minety’s opening try, converted by Garland.  But Corsham hit back in a move which saw home full back Rob Budgeon sidelined with a nasty knee injury. A further Corsham try saw the away side increase their lead to 10 points as half time approached.  Minety hit back in the closing minutes of the half when, after a spell of pressure near the Corsham line, Garland picked from the base of the scrum, sold a dummy and crashed through near the posts. A successful conversion followed and the half ended with Corsham holding a narrow 3 point advantage.

Minety started the second half in a much more positive fashion with Jack Ward scoring after a fine move along the back line saw play close to the Corsham line on the left wing.  With the home side now winning the lion’s share of possession from scrums and lineouts, the backs moved the ball with far more certainty and confidence.  A fine move involving a number of players saw hooker William North touch down near the posts to extend the home advantage to 8 points.

Ward scored his second try of the match after crashing through a tiring Corsham defence before Harry Neal scored under the post, picking up from a ruck and holding off two tackles for the bonus point winning try. Garland notched his second try of the game after a combined forwards and backs move down the right wing in the final minutes of a hard fought match.

Now Minety 1st travel to Swindon II on Saturday 26th September aiming for a win to keep tabs with the three teams above them in the table.